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I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Austin Bakes group has a couple of big bake sale fundraisers under our belt, but because these bake sales were organized to help recovery efforts after terrible events, we all agreed we never wanted to host another one ever again. Sadly, following the tragic events of the explosion in West, Texas on April 17, we started planning the next event to bake for our fellow Texans. The bake sale is happening this Saturday, May 4 at eight different locations in Austin, and there is an online giving page for donations as well. There will be a huge variety of baked goods both sweet and savory from volunteer home bakers and professional bakeries in addition to jams, preserves, sauces, and pickles. We’re hoping for the biggest turnout yet. I’ve been looking through baking books and trying to make decisions about what to bring to the sale. I knew Kurt would be happy to taste test a scone trial run before this weekend, so from several options I wanted to try, I picked the Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones from the Bouchon Bakery book. They’re as easy to make as any other scone, but being from this book, the recipe of course included some attention to detail. Dried, tart cherries were soaked overnight in a sugar and vanilla syrup, and all that time in the syrup plumped the cherries and made them delightfully juicy once they were baked into the scones. Then, the drained syrup was used in making the luscious glaze to top the scones. This was definitely a successful test, and I’ll be baking another batch for Saturday.

You do need to plan ahead to follow the instructions exactly. First, a simple syrup with scraped vanilla seeds is made, and dried tart cherries are added to it. The syrup is simmered for a moment and then allowed to cool. Once cool, the syrup with the cherries needs to be refrigerated overnight. Then, the dough for the scones can be made, but that needs some resting time in the refrigerator and the freezer before baking. The cherries should be removed from the syrup and drained, and the syrup is saved for use in the glaze. Meanwhile, flour, baking soda, and salt are combined in a stand mixer, and then cold, cubed butter is mixed into the flour. Once incorporated, cream is added and just mixed into the dough. The drained cherries and chocolate chips are then folded in, and the dough is covered and refrigerated for two hours. The recipe suggests making the scones by scooping the dough into mounds with an ice cream scoop. Instead, I patted the dough into a circle before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. Then, I cut the circle into wedges. Either way, once the dough is portioned and placed on a baking sheet, the sheet is then placed in the freezer for a couple of hours or overnight or up to a month. The scones were baked directly from freezer to oven for about 30 minutes. The glaze was made with confectioners’ sugar, some of the cherry vanilla syrup, and cream and was spooned onto the scones after they cooled a bit.

I don’t always chill dough for scones so thoroughly before baking, and I wouldn’t have thought to soak the dried cherries for as long as suggested here, but the results clearly proved those steps were worth taking. If you’re in Austin, come on out on Saturday to taste these scones (and lots of other things) while supporting our neighbors in West.

The Texan disaster was an event the world won't forget easily.It's wonderful what you are doing to help your community,Lisa.Ahh, and the scones look amazing!Just pictured having one with a cup of coffee:)

Think it's a fine thing Austin Bakes does this to help raise money for disasters. Your contribution looks luscious, Lisa. Clever idea to soak the cherries, so often they are too chewy in a scone after baking.

Such a tragic event but it's comforting to know that there are people like you who care to go into such trouble to help others. I've yet to make scones but I think after this amazing description of yours, I would love to try them.

That freak explosion was a tragic event for sure. Hopefully people are starting to piece things back together...slowly of course. Neither one of us has made scones before, but they are a comforting treat when times are hard.

I almost made scones this weekend, so your post is perfect timing. These sound amazing - first because I love the combo of chocolate and cherries but also because of the soaking of the cherries first. I must get this cookbook and try these scones.

The Austin Bakers fundraiser is a wonderful event especially if it helps people affected by that stunning explosion!

These are stunning and I bet beyond delicious. What a great idea for the sale! I wish I could have participated but have been in NYC almost all month working and am sick to boot. Great job on these Lisa - you're sure going to wow the kind folks of Austin!

Aw yum!! I just bought a packet of dried sour cherries last week and this looks like a beautifully warm and fluffy home for them (yay!). Love the sound of that gorgeous glaze. When I get time to make these, I'll let you know how they go!